GSB’s Pam Hulion Serves on OBA Compliance Board

Grand Savings Bank’s Senior Vice President of Compliance and Loan Operations, Pam Hulion is a veteran banking compliance officer who safeguards GSB’s integrity and tractability.  She is a member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Compliance Board and has recently become an instructor for the OBA Compliance school. Pam tells us more about her role and responsibilities below.

My first real exposure to banking compliance came when I attended my first OBA Compliance School in 2005. I attended again in 2009 after the market crash of 2007 and 2008.  That year, the primary focus was on Mortgage lending changes that had come out of the crash, and it was also the year I was voted to serve on the OBA Advisory Board for the upcoming year.  Following that first year, I became a permanent member of the Board.

As part of the Board, I help facilitate and organize the compliance school year after year which is offered to bankers across the state.  Bankers of every background, from compliance officers to lenders to bank examiners, attend the school. It is a tremendous opportunity for anyone in the industry, no matter if they are just getting started or need a refresher, to learn about compliance issues, changes, and regulations.

Serving on the OBA board and attending the school has definitely paved the way for my career and was instrumental in me earning my CRCM (Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager) from the ICBA. As a Board Member, we are presented opportunities to speak on different areas of compliance, in the past I have been a speaker for Risk Management, describing the different areas of risk and ways to mitigate that risk. Part of my involvement in OBA also includes providing materials, real-life examples for case studies that help advance active research and utilize available resources like bankersonline.com, the OBA, CFPB.gov and the biggest resource, the contacts made here at this school.   I also have had the opportunity to guide discussions about Compliance Risk Management, another area of interest to me.

Call me a nerd, but I love compliance. I love the control systems and rules that protect consumers as well as the institutions, and I love working with teams to solve problems and provide resources that really do ensure GSB’s integrity, conformity, and commitment to providing the very best experiences to our customers. Compliance is often thought of as “us against them” territory, but in my classes and discussions with compliance professionals, I try to focus on finding ways to stay in compliance by providing the right tools and resources and evaluating the risk of non-compliance.  Compliance and banking laws can be tricky, but there’s rarely a law that actually prohibits something. Instead, we show team members that if you do “this” then you should also do “that”.  At the OBA school, our job is to provide the “that’s”.

Pam Hulion began her banking career at Grand Savings Bank in High School and continued working through college, where she received her MBA from Oklahoma Christian University.  This summer will mark 18 years with GSB.   Pam received her certification of Regulatory Compliance (CRCM) in 2010.  At present, Pam is the SVP of Loan Operations and Compliance.  She currently serves as President of Friends of the Library.